With the up coming World Cup and the improvement in the English team since the last WC, will this be the chance to win a major event?The kiwis are strong but do not play well in England often

Australia are always up there and with key players like Cam Smith, Thurston, Slater, Cronk and Gallen they will not be easy to beat, but has Greg Inglis been forgotten as a Test player in recent times with his move to Club Fullback.He may be the game breaker.

I watched the first Rabbitohs match of the season and he let a few high kicks bounce around the tryline/in-goal area. Maybe just a bit of early season rust, though, and he probably won't be at FB for the Kangaroos.

Edited by Futtocks, 18 April 2013 - 12:17 PM.

"I always enjoyed it more if there was a body or two lying about, it made the job a bit more interesting"Vince Karalius

I watched the first Rabbitohs match of the season and he let a few high kicks bounce around the tryline/in-goal area. Maybe just a bit of early season rust, though, and he probably won't be at FB for the Kangaroos.

he will be in the Centres for sure.He is a pretty versatile player to have in your team if you have injuries, he has been the best centre in the World for some time, he has won the best Stand off award in the NRL a couple of years ago and now he is one of the best Fullbacks in the NRL

With Slater, Inglis and Barba all at the full back position, it shows you the huge gulf between competitions. Has it been there a while or have i just noticed it more now i watch Premier?

Still the english lads out there all seem to be doing really well- Widdop, Reed, Burgess x2, Graham- if they can all stay fit then surely we can complement them with SL players and make a competitive team?

With Slater, Inglis and Barba all at the full back position, it shows you the huge gulf between competitions. Has it been there a while or have i just noticed it more now i watch Premier?
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Still the english lads out there all seem to be doing really well- Widdop, Reed, Burgess x2, Graham- if they can all stay fit then surely we can complement them with SL players and make a competitive team?

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The Australians certainly have an embarassment of riches at that position and berba was the best of the lot but i thought he had mental and personal issues which have taken him away from the game.

That be as it may, they can only play one full back at at time and we have Tomkins, as good as them if he can sort out his problems under a hight ball. we have Hardacre a very competent alround deputy and is is Eden going.? I am more enthused at the talent at the disposal of England than I have been for many years.

At other positions we are better as well. Hall is world class as the Aussies found out and with most of the potential pack playing and suceeding in the NRL and with a stand off doing the same, i think there are gounds for guarded optimism.

There's a gulf between the competitions, but ###### for tat I think the England squad is relatively as close to Australia as I can remember it in my limited years watching the game.

If you put a squad together and had to choose players from the Kangaroos and England team, granted you're going to pick more of the Aussies, but we've got a team that's up there. It's the playmakers that are the big difference now imo.

In 2008 I don't think the Kiwis were as good as Aus on paper but they willed it more on the night. Switch to rugby union, has there been a world cup where the All Blacks haven't been the best team coming into it, but in the 2 world cups before the last one they didn't even make it to the finals.

I rate the Kangaroos as the best in the world and there's no question about it, it's anyones to win.

The Kangaroos are a settled side, with plenty of experience of operating as a unit. GB and England have often been undone by a lack of coherent team performance, in attack and defence. Some of that will have come from lack of time spent working together, some of it from being mentally intimidated by Australia's long history of dominance.

"I always enjoyed it more if there was a body or two lying about, it made the job a bit more interesting"Vince Karalius

With Slater, Inglis and Barba all at the full back position, it shows you the huge gulf between competitions. Has it been there a while or have i just noticed it more now i watch Premier?

Still the english lads out there all seem to be doing really well- Widdop, Reed, Burgess x2, Graham- if they can all stay fit then surely we can complement them with SL players and make a competitive team?

I don't think our options are that bad: England have Tomkins, Hardaker, Lomax and Ratchford who can all play full back and can all be game changers.

Inglis is an absolute monster and certainly one of many game breakers for the aussies.

I agree with the general sentiment that we are closer this world cup than last. We could do with none of the NRL clubs with our players making the final and the players coming into the England camp as soon as possible.